And 1

[merc]

RJ's value is in using his length to finish... his wings (7' long) allow him to put his body in front of defenders to keep the distance needed to make it hard to block his shot... he can do this all day long.
He's still lacking the court vision but I think SVG will make this his project... let's be honest they are ahead of schedule with all of the new parts.
Zeke would put up regular double doubles and he could penetrate while still catching Laim open behind him for three... that's just knowing where your teammates are supposed to be.
This game against the Warriors is about seeing how you stack up vs. the elite teams... something to grow from... we haven't even reached the Celtic disappointment years yet.... still taking baby steps... but damn it's nice being competitive again!

[FlyDog]

Hey Wise, Reggie has been great, but I share some of your concerns with him.  Oracle and Reggie himself are selling me pretty hard though.  I found it interesting that I referred to Reggie as a "Rich man's Will Bynum" just last week.  Welp..........Reggie's 26 in the 4th broke the Pistons record............previously held by Will Bynum!

Andre wins EC Player of Week for 2nd consecutive week.  That's what 24.3 rebounds per game will do for ya!

Oracle, Morris reminds me more of McDyess than Sheed.  DAMM we should have gotten Dice at least one ring.

Wise sometimes misunderstands what I'm saying.

I agree with him, all I thought he needed to say was he doesn't believe that he's a great floor general YET! People want to say what someone can't be instead of what they could be if they work at it!

I have the same concerns that anybody should have about a team that until late last season, couldn't get anything right! In short, like the Bad Boys and the 2004 Team, they need to prove that they can bring it over a much longer time than less than 10 games!

BTW, I can see some the Dice in him too, but that attitude is all Sheed

Man it's good to have a team to be positive about again, this is fun!

Trivia: The Pistons 30 point advantage in the 4th quarter is the most in a game since 1980 and tied for 3rd largest since the 1951-52 season... WOW!!!

Detroit's 1st championship run started with Isiah, a guy who you just KNEW that he would be a superstar and win championships at some point.......those guys are very few and far between. Chauncey was a different story. This team doesn't remind me of either of those teams, but when Jennings comes back and Johnson and others mature, this team could be very dangerous come April and May. Reggie and Dre have been dynamic through the 1st 6 games.

[Oracle]

Oakland, Calif. -- Andre Drummond was already in rarefied company with some of his accomplishments in the first two weeks of the season.

On Monday, he set another franchise first.

Drummond was named Eastern Conference player of the week for the second straight week, the first time a Pistons player has claimed the award in back-to-back weeks in league history. He also became the first player in the NBA with two straight awards since 2012, when LeBron James did it with the Miami Heat.

[Oracle]

Hey Wise, Reggie has been great, but I share some of your concerns with him.  Oracle and Reggie himself are selling me pretty hard though.  I found it interesting that I referred to Reggie as a "Rich man's Will Bynum" just last week.  Welp..........Reggie's 26 in the 4th broke the Pistons record............previously held by Will Bynum!

Andre wins EC Player of Week for 2nd consecutive week.  That's what 24.3 rebounds per game will do for ya!

Oracle, Morris reminds me more of McDyess than Sheed.  DAMM we should have gotten Dice at least one ring.

Wise sometimes misunderstands what I'm saying.

I agree with him, all I thought he needed to say was he doesn't believe that he's a great floor general YET! People want to say what someone can't be instead of what they could be if they work at it!

I have the same concerns that anybody should have about a team that until late last season, couldn't get anything right! In short, like the Bad Boys and the 2004 Team, they need to prove that they can bring it over a much longer time than less than 10 games!

BTW, I can see some the Dice in him too, but that attitude is all Sheed

Man it's good to have a team to be positive about again, this is fun!

Trivia: The Pistons 30 point advantage in the 4th quarter is the most in a game since 1980 and tied for 3rd largest since the 1951-52 season... WOW!!!

[FlyDog]

Hey Wise, Reggie has been great, but I share some of your concerns with him. Oracle and Reggie himself are selling me pretty hard though. I found it interesting that I referred to Reggie as a "Rich man's Will Bynum" just last week. Welp..........Reggie's 26 in the 4th broke the Pistons record............previously held by Will Bynum!

Andre wins EC Player of Week for 2nd consecutive week. That's what 24.3 rebounds per game will do for ya!

Oracle, Morris reminds me more of McDyess than Sheed. DAMM we should have gotten Dice at least one ring.

[Oracle]

This game was an amazing win, but there were a few things that showed things that point to a great future for these guys!

1. Reggie Jackson: I said earlier that he will never be as effective as Jennings until he had a 3 point shot! Well those fears are being removed as Reggie has been hitting his 3 points shots, especially when they count most! However more than that, he has a trait in his game that is very difficult to stop. When he attacks, he has fantastic hesitation and change of pace moves that freezes defenders! Westbrook attempts to simply overpower you, but Reggie uses a combination of Westbrook and Chris Paul to be really effective! Sadly for the opposition, if they do stop him, Drummond is likely there on the roll to either slam or clean up the mess!
   
2. Andre Drummond(Defense): I and everybody else that's seen him has complained that he really isn't that good of a defender. I also said that with big men, you're waiting for that light to come on and it may unlock the entire box of tools! Well, it's starting to happen! I was shocked to see how well Andre is playing defensively... the dude is a BEAST! He's intimidating guards, blocking bigs, and even his help defense is looking good! He still has a ways to go, but at least now he's getting the concept of what it takes.
   
3. Andre Drummond(Offense): Another Wow moment! He was hitting that baby hook early and often, and if that continues, he's going to have to hit his FT's, because fouling is going to be the only way to stop him! But one sequence had me really happy, and wondering if I was seeing Moose on the low block, but it was Dre! Feast your peepers on this action!
   
4. KCP & Morris: While he's still a work in progress, KCP is starting to play well on the road, although tonight he's going to have to raise that to a new level! Morris continues to play well, even when he isn't blowing up, he is the Sheed effect, a inner toughness and attitude for the team! We need one of these two(or a combination of the two) to become the 3rd near all star for this team, and we'll be in the conversation as one of the best teams in the east!
   
5. Illy: Currently the weakness in the starting unit! I'm not speaking only about point production or defense, he's doing poor to ok, but I think he will get better. My main concern is that teams will see that they can run on us easily because Illy can't get back like the rest of the team. Morris can, but he also isn't the fastest dude on the planet, but he's at least passable!
   
6. Bench: Currently even a bigger weakness than Illy, but change is coming! Two things will transform the bench, and it starts with Jennings! The bench group have enough talent, but they lack real leadership! If you give Toliver, Baynes and Stanley some leadership, then they will produce at much higher levels!
   
7. Coaching(SVG): This is SVG's baby, he picked ALL of the players, yes, even KCP, SVG chose to keep and develop him(of course Dre)! It's SVG's system, and he's really been the foundation that this team is built upon!
   

My opinion going in was that this team was slightly better than a .500 team! Lemonpen may be closer to the truth, but any way you look at it, this team appears to be ahead of schedule, and if I made any mistake, it was in evaluating the leap that Drummond and Jackson would take... happy to be wrong!!!

Finally: I'm really skeptical about early season wins, but this winning is really different! There nothing fluky about how they're winning, it's based on playing solid basketball, no smoke or mirrors, no unexplained shooting the lights out that you know won't last. Defense lasts, and that's so refreshing!

[Sebastian]

Reggie Jackson has to bottle, last night's performance, and have it ready for the remaining 76 games and whatever number that will be needed to play during the spring. Great game, Reggie.

I forget who wrote that Dre, KCP, Morris, and Reggie appear to enjoy playing with each other, but I have noticed this, too. Chemistry and teamwork is developing. This is a very important development, as OUR Pistons continue their quest to NBA respectability and relevance.

Maybe, Stan should start Stanley at the 3, so he can get rolling early, and bring Illy of the bench to sub for Stanley for a quick breather and then return Stanley to the court with the next shift of players.

WE have got to do something with the rotation, until B. Jennings returns.

OUR 5 1/2 man roster may be exploited by the Warriors 12-man deep roster.

But, that's why they play the games.

DETROIT BASKETBALL!!!

[WTF]

I'm not back off my statement but boy did Reggie take this game over offensively in the 4th. At the end of the 3rd my thinking was they'll make it close perhaps but no cigar on what I previously predicted to be a game they should win. Big Kudos on the defensive effort in the 4th!!!!!!

Andre is so much better without Moose, his energy is far better, his effort is far better. Morris is becoming the Josh Smith I dreamed of Morris does a lot of things well most of all he's fearless and he hustles and I think he more than KCP spurred this defensive effort. He got it going and the rest of the team followed suit. I could only imagine still having Moose Lazy Ass killing this chemistry with (jealousy, envy, and **** effort). Andre is better because he doesn't have to look for Moose to help only to end up on an island to defend all by himself.

I'm not saying the Pistons are better than the Warriors, but the Warriors better pay very close attention to the Pistons or they could find themselves in a world of hurt. The key is Reggie needs to get Curry in early foul trouble so Reggie needs to attack the rim early and often. Pistons cannot get in a jump shooting contest with this team because they can't match up.

[FlyDog]

Pistons have TWO early front-runners in Dre and Reggie! I fell asleep at 8:00, so I missed it, but 26 in the 4th for Reggie, and 29 and 27 for Dre? Those are video game numbers! Hell, he's averaging a 20-20 this season!

Way to go boys..........real tall order tonight. It will be interesting to see how they respond. If I were on the team, I'd rest on my laurels and lay down tonight. Luckily for Pistons fans, I'm not!

[Phil-Good]

Fun game to watch. I was ready to give Portland credit. They couldn't miss A shot in the first half. They were hot in the 3rd quarter also.

The Pistons defense is becoming really good. And Drummonds, Jackson, KCP and Morris, all really like each other. They enjoy playing with each other. You can see it on the court.

The Pistons are still A few players away but the Pistons look good with this young core of players. And Drummond had A few plays where he was looking like Shaq to me.

I have A few names I would love for Van Gundy to try and fish for in A trade.

Taj Gibson, Morris twin, Ryan Anderson,Trey Lyles,Rodney Hood. I think Detroit should take A look at Joel Embiid. Aaron Gordon, Andrew Nicholson (I love this kid low post game) Channing Frye as A 6th man.

Just A few name to think about.

[BallinD]

I underestimated our Stones. Thought they would win by three. Thought they would come back. Not like that though. I'll take it. Wow. Foot on the freaking necks. Rub their faces in it, like Dre said. Is that mean, Nah. Deeeeeetroit Basketballlllll!!

Kudos to Dre

BTW: This from ESPN

Kareem, Wilt and Andre Drummond

Andre Drummond has had at least 20 points and 20 rebounds in half of the Pistons' first 6 games. The last two players with that many 20-20 games within a team's first 6 games of a season are Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Wilt Chamberlain (via Elias).

[Fennis Dembo]

I turned on the game when they were down by 15. Then they end up winning by 17. Unbelievable! Last year when they had 5 wins they had 23 losses, that was the about one-third of the season. This start to the season has been fun. Drummond has become a real force. Jackson was unstoppable down the stretch tonight.

[Oracle]

Being down by 18 and going up by 17 in a little over 1 quarter... WOW!

Jackson drops 40 on these chumps, who were dominating us, then we just said enough of that crap!!!

Drummond another 20/20, 29 points with 27 boards!!!

KCP still producing with 16, and Morris chips in 13!

I thought we had statement games before, but this left a STAMP in Portland's head!

What a win for this young team, obviously a lot of talking heads are now stuck up their collective asses!

[lemonpen]

Guts.
Heart.
No frigging quit.

It began when KCP switched over to D. Lillard.

[Oracle]

Reggie Jackson not a floor general???

Watch this game and take notes!!!

[Oracle]

21-4 run and we grab the lead... what a comeback, win or lose, this team has a TON of heart!!!

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